Call Today!Often times, we get questions about process serving. So we rounded up the three most common questions and answered them for you. Check them out below!
What is a Process Service?
In the United States, all legal proceedings have to be acknowledged by all parties in a legal action suit that will be heard in a court of law. The service of process is the notification process of all parties. A process server delivers documents to each person that describes the legal action they are facing. The act of delivering the notices is called serving legal documents. The documents may be a court summons, a complaint, a subpoena, writ or any other type of court document.
Where Can Defendants Be Served?
You may think this is a simple answer, but the truth is that is depends on the state the papers are being served in or are coming from. In many cases, the papers can be served at anytime. However, there are a few exceptions where some states don’t allow you to serve them at their residence on Sundays, Holidays or serve them when they are traveling.
What Happens If a Process Server Cannot Locate a Target?
In some jurisdictions, if the person cannot be found it is admissible to place a notice in the newspaper. For this to be considered acceptable, it must be demonstrated that all other options have been used, and that every attempt has been made to serve the legal papers personally. This can be extremely hard to do without a professional process service on your side. If the target cannot be found, some jurisdictions allow for what’s called “substituted service,” whereby the court papers are given to a roommate or, in some cases, a teenager of appropriate age. This is considered legal in some places, though only acceptable once all other options have been exhausted. Lastly, depending on the jurisdiction, it may be required that the target receives the legal notice in the mail as well as a secondary method like substituted service. If the target has a history of skipping from address to address, even this can prove difficult.